A mansion dating from the Civil War on Montclair's Undercliff Road was knocked down Friday night, and a second historic home, on the adjacent property, suffered the same fate Monday morning.

"It looks like the new owners did a middle-of-the-night knock-down job on the Undercliff house," Planning Board member Martin Schwartz said Saturday. He was alerted to the demolition by a neighbor who noticed the ruins that morning. "They left one front wall. And the steam shovel is there and it appears they are ready to do the Lloyd Road one next."

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14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Coldwell Banker

The entryway of 14 Undercliff from its real estate listing. The mansion was built in 1865 and sold last year for over $3 million. It was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

14 Undercliff Road, a mansion built in 1865 that sold last year for over $3 million, was demolished this weekend before the scheduled hearings with Montclair's Zoning Board of Adjustment. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

A construction vehicle seems pointed toward 172 Lloyd Road, a Montclair historic mansion also owned by 41 Underhill LLC, which demolished the home at that address this weekend. February 10, 2019. Julia Martin

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Both properties were purchased by 14 Undercliff LLC last year. The Undercliff house sat on 3.4 acres and sold for $3.9 million; its neighbor, a 1907 center-hall colonial on 2.4 acres, sold for $3.4 million, according to real estate records. Both back up to Eagle Rock Reservation and have sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.

The owners' application to combine the properties and build one house was scheduled to be heard by Montclair's Historic Preservation Commission on Feb. 28 and the Zoning Board of Adjustment on March 20, said zoning board Chairman Bill Harrison.

Schwartz said he had asked Montclair's director of planning, Janice Talley, to take "urgent enforcement action" to prevent the demolition of the Lloyd Road property.

The Township Council in 2012 scrapped the local "No Knock Down" law for historic homes.

Schwartz, who is Mayor Robert Jackson's designee to the Planning Board, said that for years he's been pushing a revised No Knock Down law, which would have prevented the tear-downs.

Talley was not available for comment Monday morning.

The Montclair Planning Board is enmeshed in another pitched battle between historical preservationists and developers in the hearings on builder Brian Stolar's plans to redevelop the historic Lackawanna Train Station. A vote on the hearings, which began in December 2017, could come Monday night.